


Lola

by AvianAtrocities



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Other, texas toast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:37:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5309642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvianAtrocities/pseuds/AvianAtrocities
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When they sunk the head of that axe into the record player, a spark was ignited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lola

After the initial curiosity that had come with the forming of the team, they hadn’t spared more than the occasional questioning glance or idle washroom rumors, and over time, the Pyro’s gender was accepted as one of life’s great mysteries.

Of course, they each had their own thoughts about the subject. Demoman was certain the Pyro was some sort of demon in disguise, Sniper was fond of his alien theory, and Scout would change his mind every time it came up. Others didn’t seem to care as much, and when pressed about it, Medic would quip ‘doctor-patient confidentiality’, despite the man’s complete disregard for any other sort of medical oath or work ethics.

Engineer was the sort of man to keep to his own business when it came to personal affairs and such, his mother didn’t raise him to run his mouth or be a gossip. But his mind was sharp and he did notice things. Along with the lack of any physical indication of gender, the Pyro’s habits and mannerisms were a blend of both, and neither, man nor woman. Even their taste in hats was eccentric and completely ubiquitous. Most of the time, their behavior spawned more questions than gave any answers.

It was only after one quiet evening in the fall of ‘70, when the fire was bright and the stars were dim, that light fell on the question and gave a sort of answer.

Like most evenings, a few of them had gathered around to talk, listen to records, and drink. It was a simple bonding experience, but a welcome one, nonetheless.

Tonight, he took his usual seat, fiddling with the core of a teleporting mechanism, Pyro at their customary spot by the fire, and Demoman, already a half bottle down at a quarter past seven. Scout was squatting by the record player, he had been going through the box of vinyls, switching them out after every other song. Apparently the boy had no taste for crooners, swingers, or swooners, and was beginning to get agitated until he found the rock records.

The Beatles played for a good few songs, Pyro amused greatly by Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, though Tavish slurred something less than polite about the English. After Let It Be, Scout switched out the vinyl again for something new, and soon the upbeat rhythm of an acoustic guitar filled the autumn air.  
Even as he was preoccupied, Dell picked up some of the lyrics as the song went on, and at first it sounded like the general foolishness of the rock genre.

_I’m not the world’s most physical guy, But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine…_

The beginning of the stanza elicited a chuckle from both him and Tavish, and a snort from Scout.

_Well I’m not dumb but I can’t understand, Why she walked like a woman and talked like a man…_

The song continued, and the Engineer gave a slight grimace, returning to his task at hand.

_Girls will be boys and boys will be girls, It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola…_

Dell gave a frown and glanced to Scout, who gave a toothy grin and nonchalant shrug. What kind of music were these kids listening to nowadays? He looked back to his work, but caught sight of Pyro from the corner of his eyes. The firebug was uncharacteristically still, fists clenched and breathing shallow. The Texan lifted his head and opened his mouth to ask the other what was wrong.

_Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,  But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man,  And so is Lola…_

Before anyone could register what was happening, Pyro had leapt to their feet, over the campfire, and had buried the head of their formerly discarded axe into the record player with a loud crack and the crunching of plastic, wood, and steel, much to the surprise of the other mercenaries.

They all remained still, staring at the Pyro in shock as they stood, silhouetted by the flickering light of the fire, the hilt of the axe still in hand. Even though they were men of war, the sight had the three of them tensed into a cold sweat.

Tavish fell off the log he had previously been sitting on before Scout managed to find his tongue and begin his offended tirade at the other mercenary. Before the third slew of crude words torrented out of the youngest men’s mouth, Conagher had set aside his work and hopped to his feet, silencing the boy with a gentle ‘now, now’.

“Son, why don’t you help Demo pull his head out of that gopher hole and head inside,” he calmly suggested. “Yeah but the shithead wrecked the–” “Don’t you fuss about the machine, son. I’ll take care of it, alright?” He offered his hand to the other.

He pointed to his eyes, then to the Engineer, “You’d better fix it, hard hat. ” “You have my word, partner.” Scout jutted his jaw, but stood with the Texan’s help, and brushed the seat of his pants off before going to help Demo off the ground and into the base.  
Once the two were out of earshot, Dell let out a soft sigh and glanced down at the axe wedged deep in the remains of the record player. Saying nothing, he shuffled over to where Pyro was sitting in the dirt, and with a quiet grunt and a soft paft, he joined the sullen mercenary in their tense glowering. It was then that he realized the remains of the Kinks vinyl was smoldering in the heat of the fire.

Pyro remained still for a good while, only stirring as the fire died down to cooling embers. Dell offered a piece of wood to them as they prodded the remains, which they accepted with a nod and snuggled it into the bed of charcoal. They seemed a little better after breathing life back into the campfire, and they turned to the Engineer, hands suddenly motioning wildly from their stomach to their chest in a wild flurry… that weakly teetered off into rubber gloves squeaking against each other after they caught sight of Dell’s confused, but kindly smile.

They let out a muffled string of syllables, then digressed into hugging their legs.  
“I don’t rightly know what that was,” Dell said gently, offering his own gloved hand to the Pyro. “But I’d like to know, if’n you’d want to tell.”

They looked to the Engineer, and very deliberately, stuck the thumb of their right hand into the palm of their left and pointed down.

They then took his hand in their own and gave it a squeeze.

The two of them spent the rest of the evening sitting next to each other, wordlessly watching the fire. Only after the flames had died away for a second time, did Dell send Pyro off to bed. He gathered the pieces of the record player, disposed of the few stray beer bottles, and doused the embers with water.

A record player shouldn’t take too long to fix.

**Author's Note:**

> I was planning on writing a multi-chap fic, but it's been a few months and this is all I've gotten done, LOL. Gender neutral Pyro is canonly trans and I'll fight you about it. I may write more of these two in the future.


End file.
